Factors Associated With Permanency for Children in Out-Of-Home Placement: A Survival Analysis

Area of Science:

• Child Welfare Research
• Social Work
• Public Health

Background:

• Achieving permanency for children in foster care is a primary objective of child welfare systems.
• Timely permanency is essential for child well-being and successful outcomes.
• Identifying factors influencing permanency is critical for improving child welfare services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the duration children spend in foster care.
• To identify key determinants associated with achieving permanency outcomes.
• To analyze factors influencing reunification, guardianship, and adoption.

Main Methods:

• Utilized administrative data from a single state over a six-year period.
• Included a final sample of 1,874 children.
• Employed multivariate survival analyses, specifically Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Main Results:

• Median time to permanency varied: 188 days for reunification, 505 days for guardianship, and 932 days for adoption.
• Significant factors included race/ethnicity, age at removal, number of placement changes, number of siblings, family team decision meetings (FTDM), and placement type.
• These determinants significantly influenced the achievement of permanency.

Conclusions:

• Findings highlight the need to address racial disproportionality in child welfare.
• Emphasizes the importance of family engagement strategies, such as FTDM.
• Suggests policy and practice implications for kinship care and placement stability to expedite permanency.